Top ten most memorable Farsley games under the management of Neil Parsley

Neil Parsley celebrated his fifth anniversary in permanent charge at Throstle Nest yesterday and here are Sports Performer’s top ten most memorable games under his management, writes James Grayson.

1. Hucknall Town – home (Won 4-0) – 4/10/08
In the wake of John Deacey’s departure, Parsley was appointed caretaker manager and his first game in temporary charge began in bizarre fashion. Struggling Hucknall had three players sent off in the opening 45 minutes. Gary Sucharewycz was first to go for an off-the-ball incident with Matty James.
Gary Ricketts followed him shortly after for a reckless lunge on Mark Jackson which caused the defender to miss the next two months.
Dan MacPherson was sent off on the stroke of half-time for elbowing James. MacPherson received a lengthier ban for abusing a club official and pulling the visitors’ dressing room door off its hinges.
With Hucknall down to eight men, Farsley took them apart in the second half with Rory Prendergast, Tom Penford and Jake Speight (2) scoring and on Hucknall’s behaviour, Parsley said at the time: “It was an absolute disgrace and I have never seen anything like it. In today’s climate, in regard to referees it couldn’t have been nice for him (referee Mr Hart) either to give them three dismissals, but he was bang right.”
2. Hinckley United – away (Won 2-1) – 16/3/09
Parsley secured the job with four wins from five games in caretaker charge, but the honeymoon was soon over. The financial crisis at the Nest began to bite and Parsley lost almost his entire squad to Bradford Park Avenue.
Parsley and his assistant Mark Jackson had to rebuild the team which had been plunged into a relegation battle after ten consecutive defeats – still the worst losing run of Parsley’s time at Farsley.
The run ended with a victory at Hinckley United on a cold Monday night. After falling behind early on, Luke Malcher equalised for Farsley and then returning talisman Damian Reeves scored a sensational goal to win it.

3. Vauxhall Motors – home (Won 1-0) – 24/10/09
The financial crisis reached a head in the summer of 2009 when the club entered administration. The team were deducted ten points which they managed to win back by the end of August.
However, they remained bottom until the end of October when fellow strugglers Vauxhall Motors visited Throstle Nest. The game was a poor one and Farsley had to wait until the 93rd minute of the game to score.
Gareth Grant broke down the left and crossed for Lee Ellington who nodded home from close range to spark euphoric scenes – the result lifted the Celts to 16th.

4. AFC Telford United – home (Won 3-1) – 28/11/09
Further good results followed and whilst the match with AFC Telford United is remembered for goalkeeper Piotr Skiba throwing the ball into the back of his own net, the game had many more memorable moments.
Lee Ellington had given Farsley an early lead before Skiba’s clanger, which later appeared on the BBC programme Question on Sport. Skiba then made amends by making a goal-stopping save from now Telford striker Reeves. A collision in the save left Skiba concussed and he had to be replaced by midfielder Dave Syers, now on loan at Scunthorpe United from Doncaster Rovers, between the sticks.
Farsley would score twice more through Gareth Grant, who also had a stonewall penalty appeal turned before Syers created his own famous moment. With only few minutes left, Syers incredibly saved Reeves’ penalty to round off a wonderful day for the club. 

5. Droylsden – away (Won 2-1) – 27/2/10
By the end of February, Farsley were within touching distance of securing Conference North survival and Parsley’s heroes pulled off a remarkable victory at Droylsden in what turned out to be the final game as Farsley Celtic.
On his side, Parsley said: “My team keep being thrown obstacles since August and they keep knocking them down.” He had seen Syers ridiculously sent off for an alleged elbow by referee Barry Cropp minutes after Gareth Grant had equalised.
However, with ten men, Farsley youngster Scott Driscoll scored the winner on the stroke of half-time.

6. Tadcaster Albion – away (Won 4-3) – 16/4/11
The rug was pulled from underneath Farsley two weeks later when administrators Mazars pulled the plug. The club had to re-form and Parsley returned to lead the team from the abyss of the Northern Counties East League.
Hopes of winning the Premier Division looked to have gone in January when Farsley lost at Parkgate. Parkgate went three points clear with three games in hand and celebrated like they had won a cup final. But Farsley didn’t throw in the towel and they won 12 and drew one of their final 13 games to lift the title.
The dramatic 4-3 victory at Tadcaster in which Farsley led 3-0 at half-time, all but sealed the title and in the celebrations, Parsley said: “Mark Jackson said before the game that we have shown a lot of character as we had to sit in that dressing room at Parkgate and listen to them celebrate because they had won a game of football against us. It’s full testament to the players.
“That afternoon at Parkgate our performance warranted a win. We didn’t get the win and we had to lose gracefully, but we still sat in the dressing room with them all chanting.
“Who’s chanting now? Who’s chanting now in April – Farsley are. I didn’t write us out of it.
“To win 16 games and draw one out of 17 as I have gone on record this week and said that it is a great achievement by the players. To win 20 and draw one and win more trophies – that’s the aim now.” 

7. Lincoln Moorlands Railway – home (Won 3-1) – 23/4/11
Bridlington Town dropped points in their midweek game that followed Farsley’s victory at Tadcaster which meant Parsley’s men were confirmed as champions. Parsley described the feat as “his best achievement as a manager” and Farsley were able to enjoy getting their revenge on a decent Lincoln side at Throstle Nest.
Farsley overhauled a half-time deficit to win – Ben Jones, Roy Stamer and Gareth Grant scoring before club captain Dominic Krief lifted the trophy at the end of the game.

8. Winterton Rangers – neutral (Won 1-0) – 2/5/11
Farsley failed to win the President’s Cup after losing at Tadcaster Albion five days earlier and the League Cup looked to be slipping away after just two minutes of the final starting. Captain Krief was sent off for violent conduct and Farsley had to rely on man of the match Tom Morgan to pull off a string of tremendous saves.
Winterton would have Liam Wilkin sent off towards the end of bad-tempered final, but the game seemed destined for extra-time until a dramatic winner in the last minute. Ryan Watson’s shot from the edge of the box beat the Winterton goalkeeper and Farsley were double-winners.

9. Wakefield FC – home (Won 2-1) – 9/4/12
Farsley acclimatised well to life in the Evo Stik Division One North and by April were on the verge of reaching the play-offs. Farsley needed to maintain momentum and victory over Wakefield was paramount. In a game full of tension on the pitch and in the stands, Fernando Moke gave Wakefield the lead which they held until a dramatic final 13 minutes.
Farsley probed for an equaliser and finally scored thanks to an unlikely source. Dave Briggs popped up with a sensational 25-yard chip which beat Danny Trueman and prompted Parsley to do a Jose Mourinho style celebration down the side-lines. The inevitable was coming and when Declan Normanschild’s kamikaze tackle on Ben Jones saw a penalty given, the striker made no mistake from spot. 

10. Darlington 1883 – home (Won 4-2) – 24/8/13
Farsley lost to Witton Albion in the play-offs semi-finals and endured a poor season in 2012-13 which made Parsley rebuild his team for the new season. When title favourites Darlington visited Throstle Nest, Farsley almost had a completely new team. Striker Aiden Savory showed his worth with a hat-trick, with Robbie O’Brien scoring as well to give the Darlington fans a shock.